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Fall Foe

As the allergy/hay fever season ends, doctors have new
weapons to help you combat the year-round a iction.

LISA GAYLE
Special to The Jewish News

I

f each fall you develop red-
dened eyes, itchy ears and a
runny nose, then you may be
among more than 750,000
Michiganians with allergic rhinitis,
commonly known as hay fever.
Allergic symptoms are especially
prevalent in the spring when trees,
grasses and dandelions pollinate, and
from mid-August to mid-October
when weed pollen is carried by the
wind. Yet, reactions to airborne aller-
gens can occur at any time of year.
Even in winter, dust mites, animal
dander and molds collect in bedding

and in furnace systems that circulate
allergens through the house.
"Michigan is one of the worst states
for allergies," says Dr. Jay Sandweiss,
an osteopathic physician based in Ann
Arbor. Some of his patients developed
allergies when they moved to
Michigan. Others had their symptoms
disappear when they moved away.
Sue Rutkowski, on the National
Board of the Asthma and Allergy
Foundation of America, concurs. "We
have hardy plants that produce a lot of
pollen," she says.
People with allergies have super-
sensitive immune systems that react to
small amounts of normally harmless
substances such as plant pollen, dust

mites or animal dander. These sub-
stances, called allergens, differ from
person to person.
Symptoms include sneezing, cough-
ing, and itching in the eyes, ears, nose
or throat. Allergies can effect one's
ability to function and account for
millions of days lost from work and
school.
At first, more than half of all suf-
ferers fail to recognize allergy symp-
toms and falsely believe they have a
cold or flu. When Israeli-born
Sandweiss was growing up in Oak
Park, he moved his bedroom into the
basement. Soon after, he developed
chronic bronchitis and sore throats
that he now knows are a reaction to

mold that grows in damp places like
basements.
A dehumidifier could have reduced
his problems, but his allergies went
undiagnosed. During those years, he
was often sick.
Allergies can be connected to other
serious conditions. "Twenty to 30 per-
cent of those with allergies may also
have asthma," says Dr. Michael
Facktor, a board-certified allergist with
a 20-year practice in West Bloomfield.
He also treats patients with recurrent
respiratory infections that have been
aggravated by chronic allergen expo-
sure.
"A lot of people have symptoms,
especially children" says Facktor.
"They have a stuffy nose in
September, and they can't study or sit
still. They might be short of breath or
wheeze when they run in gym. They're
told that they are out of shape, but the
problem is asthma or allergies.
Children especially should be evaluat-
ed."
Allergies generally run in families.
If one parent is allergic, chances are
one in three that each child will devel-
op allergies. If both parents have aller-
gies, chances double.
"It's the tendency that's inherited,"
points out Rutkowski. "The mom
may be allergic to one thing and her
child another."
According to Facktor, allergy symp-
toms tend to wax and wane. "A child
can have asthma from ages 2 to 5, and
develop rhinitis without asthma in his
20s. As he gets older, the hay fever
goes away, but asthma develops
again."
When Rutkowski was a small child,
she had asthma. She improved in ado-
lescence, but symptoms returned with
her last pregnancy.
Those without a predisposition can
also develop allergies. Prolonged expo-
sure to a large amount of a substance,
such as acrylic nail polish, can also
produce an allergy.
"Symptoms result from an interplay
between this inherited tendency and
the environment," says Dr. Facktor. If
the allergen is never present, no aller-
gies develop. If someone has allergies
and the allergen is removed, the symp-
toms disappear.
Treatment begins with identifying
an individual's specific allergens.
Facktor takes an extended family
and personal history. If symptoms are
severe, he orders tests, but usually
careful listening gives him the infor-
mation he needs. The first visit also
includes education about using med-

10/17

1997

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